An application of cadastral fabric system in improving positional accuracy of cadastral databases in Malaysia

Cadastral fabric is perceived as a feasible solution to improve the speed, efficiency and quality of the cadastral measurement data to implement Positional Accuracy Improvement (PAI) and to support Coordinated Cadastral System (CCS) and Dynamic Coordinated Cadastral System (DCCS) in Malaysia. In light of this, this study aims to propose a system to upgrade the positional accuracy of the existing cadastral system through the utilisation of the cadastral fabric system. A comprehensive investigation on the capability of the proposed system is carried out. A total of four evaluation aspects is incorporated in the study to investigate the feasibility and capability of the software, viz. performance of geodetic least squares adjustment, quality assurance techniques, supporting functions, and user friendliness. This study utilises secondary data obtained from the Department of Surveying and Mapping Malaysia (DSMM). The test area is coded as Block B21701 which is located in Selangor, Malaysia. Results show that least square adjustment for the entire network is completed in a timely manner. Various quality assurance techniques are implementable, namely error ellipses, magnitude of correction vectors and adjustment trajectory, as well as inspection of adjusted online bearings. In addition, the system supports coordinate versioning, coordinates of various datum or projection. Last but not least, user friendliness of the system is identified through the software interface, interaction and automation functions. With that, it is concluded that the proposed system is highly feasible and capable to create a Cadastral Fabric to improve the positional accuracy of existing cadastral system used in Malaysia

Association analyses of East Asian individuals and trans-ancestry analyses with European individuals reveal new loci associated with cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Large-scale meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified >175 loci associated with fasting cholesterol levels, including total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG). With differences in linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure and allele frequencies between ancestry groups, studies in additional large samples may detect new associations. We conducted staged GWAS meta-analyses in up to 69,414 East Asian individuals from 24 studies with participants from Japan, the Philippines, Korea, China, Singapore, and Taiwan. These meta-analyses identified (P < 5 × 10-8) three novel loci associated with HDL-C near CD163-APOBEC1 (P = 7.4 × 10-9), NCOA2 (P = 1.6 × 10-8), and NID2-PTGDR (P = 4.2 × 10-8), and one novel locus associated with TG near WDR11-FGFR2 (P = 2.7 × 10-10). Conditional analyses identified a second signal near CD163-APOBEC1. We then combined results from the East Asian meta-analysis with association results from up to 187,365 European individuals from the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium in a trans-ancestry meta-analysis. This analysis identified (log10Bayes Factor ≥6.1) eight additional novel lipid loci. Among the twelve total loci identified, the index variants at eight loci have demonstrated at least nominal significance with other metabolic traits in prior studies, and two loci exhibited coincident eQTLs (P < 1 × 10-5) in subcutaneous adipose tissue for BPTF and PDGFC. Taken together, these analyses identified multiple novel lipid loci, providing new potential therapeutic targets

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries(1,2). However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world(3) and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health(4,5). However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol-which is a marker of cardiovascular riskchanged from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million-4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.Peer reviewe

Three-dimensional positional accuracy of intraoral and laboratory implant scan bodies

10.1016/j.prosdent.2020.09.057JOURNAL OF PROSTHETIC DENTISTRY1284735-74

Challenges in forming the subsidiary management corporation: Malaysian experience

The popularity of strata development in Malaysia have seen the promotion of mixed development and usages that need to be managed efficiently to ensure living within a strata scheme is pleasant. Within a mixed development that consists of different components, some common facilities are made available only to a certain group of owners. The Strata Management Act 2013 (Act 757) introduced the establishment of subsidiary management corporation to manage the limited common property which could help to resolve the issues in managing the different types of users in a mixed or integrated strata development. Act 757 provides for the establishment of subsidiary management corporation which enables proprietors to exclusively enjoy limited common property. However, to date, the establishment of subsidiary management corporation in Malaysia is unpopular since the establishment depends on the initiatives of the management corporation (MC). This research adopts quantitative method to analyse the formation of subsidiary management corporation as well as the challenges faced in the process. A total of 187 respondents were chosen for this study based on the relevance of the organisation. The findings revealed that the main challenges hindering the formation of subsidiary management corporation is the lack of knowledge on the procedure for forming subsidiary management corporation on the part of the MC, the willingness of the MC; the requirement to pass the comprehensive resolution and defining of boundaries under the special plan. The research ends with proposed solutions to overcome the challenges

Towards "Good" Native Land Governance: An Evaluation in Sarawak, Malaysia

Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia, where two-thirds of the population are Indigenous. This study aims to evaluate, through the lens of good governance principles, the current practice of the Sarawak State’s formal land governance of lands associated with Native Customary Rights (hereafter known as Native land governance). Being quantitative in nature, this study conceptualises an evaluation framework for good governance principles as applied to Native land governance. Next, this study empirically tests out the framework by adopting a multi-criteria decision-making tool known as The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). TOPSIS analysis enables the integration of perceptions between State/private groups and Indigenous groups. The output of the TOPSIS analysis is summarised in a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) format according to the TOPSIS closeness value. Unfortunately, results show that the weaknesses outnumber the strengths in Sarawak’s Native land governance. Among these issues, Indigenous respondents highlight major issues with the Sarawak land registry’s efficiency in delivering outcomes that are equitable for Indigenous land rights. This study ends with recommendations on how the state of Sarawak can move towards compliance with good governance principles in relation to lands associated with Native Customary Rights

Modular Approach for Metal–Semiconductor Heterostructures with Very Large Interface Lattice Misfit: A First-Principles Perspective

Realizing high-quality heteroepitaxy of a wide variety of films of very large lattice misfit, <i>f</i> ≥ 10%, with the substrate is a great challenge, but also a potential advancement, because the films may be made threading-dislocation-free as all the dislocations will be confined at the interface. In spite of the numerous experimental findings in the literature, first-principles theory for such systems is virtually nonexistent due to their intrinsic heterogeneity; namely, away from the interface, the film is strain free, but at the interface, not only strain but also misfit dislocation develop. Here, a modular approach is proposed to study such heterogeneous films by a combined first-principles and elasticity theory method to predict, for example, their epitaxial relationship. Four representative metal–semiconductor interfaces, Al(111)/Si(111), Cu(111)/Si(111), Cu(001)/Si(001), and CaF₂(111)/Ni­(001), are considered. By taking into account the chemical bonding information at the interface by first-principles theory, our results show good agreement with experiments. Moreover, by constructing the electron localization function (ELF) that utilizes the first-principles results, we are able to demonstrate the formation of interfacial covalent bonds between Si and metal atoms

Towards "Good" Native Land Governance : An Evaluation in Sarawak, Malaysia

Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia, where two-thirds of the population are Indigenous. This study aims to evaluate, through the lens of good governance principles, the current practice of the Sarawak State’s formal land governance of lands associated with Native Customary Rights (hereafter known as Native land governance). Being quantitative in nature, this study conceptualises an evaluation framework for good governance principles as applied to Native land governance. Next, this study empirically tests out the framework by adopting a multi-criteria decision-making tool known as The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). TOPSIS analysis enables the integration of perceptions between State/private groups and Indigenous groups. The output of the TOPSIS analysis is summarised in a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) format according to the TOPSIS closeness value. Unfortunately, results show that the weaknesses outnumber the strengths in Sarawak’s Native land governance. Among these issues, Indigenous respondents highlight major issues with the Sarawak land registry’s efficiency in delivering outcomes that are equitable for Indigenous land rights. This study ends with recommendations on how the state of Sarawak can move towards compliance with good governance principles in relation to lands associated with Native Customary Rights